Amy

I'm looking into a 17 day trip that would be mainly Armenia, with perhaps four days in Russia at the end, as Moscow seems to be the best connecting point anyway (and it's been way too long since I've been there.)

My plan is to have an apartment in Yerevan for five or six days, probably over the Vardavar holiday, and do day trips from there, then move on to another base location to explore some more. (Hyur Services seems to have what I'm looking for in the day trips/apartment area.) I'm leaning toward Goris or Dilijan for the next base, but am certainly open to other possibilities.

To give you some background, I'll probably be traveling solo (female, 48, quite accustomed to solo travel) and I don't drive. I like culture/nature/history, not so much into beach/nightlife/shopping. (Not that the beach is really relevant here, although there is Lake Sevan, which I'd probably visit on a day trip.)

Any suggestions or revisions to the plan would be gratefully considered. I've happily read thursdaysd's blog on Armenia, but otherwise there's not a whole lot of info about Armenia travel. I've got the Bradt and the Lonely Planet guidebooks, but haven't been able to come up with a definite plan from them--I think I'm just so used to getting more immediate feedback these days!

Many thanks for any info you'd like to share!

thursdaysd

Hi Amy - Cool that you're headed to the Caucasus! And that you've already read my blog. Any chance you can get to Georgia as well as Armenia? You could day trip to all of Armenia from Yerevan, although a base in the north would mean less driving. You could also consider Vanadzor - bigger place than Dilijan.

You might consider Istanbul rather than/as well as Moscow - much cheaper visa!

Amy

Thanks, thursdaysd! I was thinking about including Georgia, but the apt. rentals in Yerevan are five day minimum, and then I was going to do one other base...On the other hand, if I could do everything out of there, it might be good to include Georgia. I do like to "settle in" a bit to a place. I'll definitely check out Vanadzor for the north.

I love Istanbul, but Russia is the "motherland",and it's been a lot longer (and a whole lot more changes ago) since I've been there than to Turkey: 1989. I know that the visa price is a killer--not to mention the price of everything else--but I've had a bit of a craving for St. Basil's and Red Square and conversations that begin with the meaning of life. (Okay, so that part may have changed, too...)

thursdaysd

Aside from the khachkars, I preferred Georgia to Armenia, but YMMV. I didn't make it up to the high mountains, and sounds like you won't either if you want just one base since Tbilisi is the obvious one.

I was in Moscow in 2004, luckily before things got so expensive! The huge soviet-era hotel overlooking Red Square was actually affordable, but gone now. Understand the urge, though.

Amy

Well, I've got my trip planned out now!

I'll be flying into Yerevan in July and staying at Villa Delenda (thanks, thursdaysd!) for four nights and taking trips to Garni/Geghard for Vardavar and to some other outlying monasteries and to Lake Sevan, then doing a three day foray into Nagorno-Karabakh with Hyur Services tour company, then to Tezh Ler http://www.tezhler-resort.am/ on the road to Vanadzor for three nights. (I'll be exploring the North more from there, of course.)

Then it's on to Moscow and four nights in an apartment on Kamergersky, the pedestrian street, just a few blocks from Red Square.

I'm really looking forward to it!

thursdaysd

Sounds great! Have a wonderful trip.